When Deanna Smith began trying to bake gluten-free bread for her sick 3-year-old cousin back in 2006, she never dreamed she’d soon launch one of Escondido’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I had never baked a loaf of bread in my life, but I wanted little Carly to have peanut butter and jelly and grilled cheese like all the rest of the kids in our family,” Smith said last week in her south Escondido gluten-free bakery.

Seven years later, Smith is selling 12 million bread products a month all across the globe. Demand is so strong that she’s planning to replace her 3,000-square-foot bakery with a factory roughly 10 times larger.

That success has allowed Smith, a 1988 Orange Glen High graduate who’s spent nearly her entire life in Escondido, to become a lead sponsor for Escondido’s leg of the nation’s biggest cycling race in May.

“This is one of the most important events in Escondido’s history,” Smith said. “And I think it’s really important for people to give back to their community.”

She contributed $20,000 of the nearly $500,000 Escondido needs to cover hotel rooms, parties and media events for the race.

“It’s scary and amazing to be able to contribute so much money because that could be going for equipment and other things,” she said. “But the race is about healthy and we’re about healthy, so it’s a perfect match.”

Smith’s success has come during a rapid rise in popularity for products without gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and many food preservatives.

People with Celiac’s disease, about 1 percent of the population, are gluten-intolerant. The disease causes chronic constipation, diarrhea and fatigue.

People without Celiac’s disease also often blame gluten for health problems, such as acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome, Smith said.

Removing gluten from bread products without eliminating the flavor and fluffiness is a complex process that bakers of gluten-free products don’t like to discuss.

Smith makes all the employees of Deanna’s Gluten-Free sign confidentiality agreements. And last week she was careful to prevent a news photographer from taking any shots that might help reveal her secret recipes and methods.

She said her formula is the result of much “trial and error” over the years.

“It’s a spectacular combination of ingredients and techniques,” she said.